When free speech is hate speech

Freedom of speech notwithstanding, most right-thinking Australians would agree that Sydney barrister Nicholas Poynder crossed an unacceptable line into hate speech when he said Zionists were “a stain on humanity which needs to be wiped out”. His praise of Hamas as “absolute heroes” is just as repulsive. Likewise his view that “Israelis are monsters” who “no longer deserve their own country” and his support for NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong, who referred to the “tentacles” of the “Jewish lobby” in a video that emerged earlier this month and for which she has apologised.

Barristers are a key part of the administration of justice. It is a sad state of affairs that when it comes to anti-Jewish incitement to violence, many in the Jewish community have lost confidence that anything will be done by the police. Instead, they are looking to others, such as the Legal Services Commissioner and the NSW Bar Association, to do the right thing. This is why the Legal Services Commissioner must look closely at the serious, legitimate complaint filed by Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory. As Mr Gregory says, Mr Poynder’s posts on X show “serious anti-Semitic incitement and vilification against the Jewish people”. Mr Poynder, “an officer of the court, publicly supports a listed terrorist organisation that has openly committed the most egregious and perverted and depraved crimes against humanity … that, in accordance with its founding charter, calls for the murder of all Jews,” the complaint reads.

Mr Poynder’s social media rantings, exposed by Janet Albrechtsen and Ellie Dudley, are a prime example of the tide of anti-Semitism that has relentlessly gathered pace, threatening Jewish individuals, families and businesses since October 7.

The infiltration of anti-Semitism in Australia is widespread, Paul Kelly wrote in Wednesday’s paper. While the Labor Party boasts about its morality, it is “in denial about the global wave of anti-Semitism and its penetration into Australian society. Anthony Albanese’s response is totally reactive. He seems to see anti-Semitism as an electoral problem to be managed, not as a social evil to be addressed with practical and moral leadership.”

The battle to reverse it – which must be fought – will be long and challenging, stretching beyond ideas to morality and what makes an ethical society. Good leadership, overcoming ignorance and the restoration of the values of the Judaeo-Christian ethic, a cornerstone of Western societies, will be vital. We are paying the price for decades of mediocre education that has left many people gullible to anti-Semitism spouted by progressive-left ideologues on social media. Marchers at a recent rally in London blamed the US and Britain for World War II and praised Houthi terrorists, proxies of Iran, whose oppressive regime anti-Semites overlook.

The poisonous anti-Semitism of people such as Mr Poynder must be challenged. Likewise, the naive comments by the Prince of Wales, who wants “an end to the fighting (in Gaza) as soon as possible”. Minimising casualties is vital. But the prince was too simplistic in not mentioning why Israel must defeat Hamas, whose raison d’etre is wiping Israel, and its people, off the map. Israel has no option but to pursue the terrorists down every last tunnel they have built, while they have ignored Palestinians’ real needs.